Gratitude

 When I was younger I had a hard time saying thank you. I was often more focused on getting what I wanted when I was that age. As I have gotten older I have seen the importance of telling people thank you. I realized that I had taken for granted how other people have made me feel and thought they knew how much they meant to me. I ran into this last semester when I had the same economics professor twice in a row. I had him freshman year in an online class. When I learned the class was at eight in the morning I was so mad. I thought that the class would be boring and I was not looking forward to it. I was incredibly surprised that during the first session, I was too busy laughing to take many notes. He often told stories about himself and put me at ease in every class. This was in the backdrop of Covid where everyone was isolated and there was nothing to do on campus. Most of my interactions were online with other students as opposed to meeting people face to face. At times over the semester, I felt isolated, but I always looked forward to my early morning econ class. At the end of last semester, I went to his office hours and told him this. Along with thanking him for being incredibly helpful over the course of the semester. He was surprised. He had no idea that he had such an impact on my freshman year and thanked me for letting him know he had such a big impact on me. That conversation has led to multiple dinners and him becoming one of the closest mentors that I have had in college so far. When we meet we talk about school and my job, but then we always talk about each of our personal lives. I have truly enjoyed getting to know the man on a more personal level and that would never have happened if I had not shared with him how he helped me through the hard times in freshman year. One of the nights we were talking and he said how at times it is hard to know the impact that teachers are having on students. He discussed how he hoped that he was doing a good job and helping to make everyone feel better. I have taken this to heart and tried to tell everyone in my life how much I appreciate them, and every time I do I feel even more happy. I can see their appreciation and see how it makes them feel. If I had known this I would have begun this journey much sooner, but I al looking forward to doing it more in the future.

wc 466